HC Deb 13 July 1981 vol 8 c785
5. Mr. Coleman

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he proposes to take before the end of 1981 to increase employment in West Glamorgan.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

In addition to policies to reduce inflation and improve competitiveness we are pressing ahead to provide improved infrastructure in the area, including a major Welsh Development Agency factory building programme with 44 units totalling 291,000 sq ft either planned or under construction.

Mr. Coleman

Does the right hon. Gentleman really think that the answers that he has given today will convince the unemployed in West Glamorgan? How does he think that a rise of 88.5 per cent. in the level of unemployment in the Neath travel-to-work area will give the unemployed the confidence that they need? Will he press his right hon. and hon. Friends in the Government to restore to the Neath travel-to-work area the special development status of which it was robbed by the Government only two years ago? Does he not realise the importance of that status to Neath and to West Glamorgan?

Mr. Edwards

What certainly will not restore the confidence of the unemployed is the lack of positive proposals by the Opposition in recent months to tackle a problem with which they failed to deal when in Government. In particular, I do not think that they will derive much encouragement from the Leader of the Opposition, who saw unemployment treble in his constituency when he was a Minister, when all that he can say is that we should spend money, without giving any indication of how it should be financed.

Mr. Anderson

Does the Secretary of State accept no responsibility for the increase in unemployment as a result of the Government's policies?

Mr. Edwards

Clearly, all Governments must accept responsibility for the economic conditions. I believe that we are now suffering the consequences not only of economic policies but of industrial practices and attitudes under successive Governments for a long time. There is no way in which we can restore competitiveness overnight when it has been lost over decades, often as a result of measures taken by Labour Governments.

Dr. Roger Thomas

Is the Secretary of State aware of the most undesirable effects that high unemployment in West Glamorgan has on the vast region of Wales to the west and north-west of the Swansea hinterland as far as his own constituency? Is he further aware that the people of that area are very worried about the special enterprise zone in West Glamorgan?

Mr. Edwards

Of course I am aware of these anxieties. I probably know the area as well as the hon. Gentleman does. I also know that the people in the Swansea valley widely welcome the new enterprise zone and are determined to see that it is given a real chance to succeed.